CASTING WEEK FLASH-BACK
Ok…the first wave of productions is over…I can breathe a little…I even thought I would swim to the shore and paint you a little picture of what being at sea was like…but we’re already diving into the next project….pitch, story, structure, characters….I guess I’ll have to let you know what’s been happening while I’m still soaking in the water…let’s see….gloup…
Two weeks ago, we had a full week of casting auditions, and given the high number of responses most of us got from actors, it was essential to put together casting teams to greet, handle, film, and of course assess the actors that came in. It was really good to see the slowly forming bonds between all of us (first semester students) finally coming together in a real way as we helped make each other’s casting auditions run surprisingly smoothly for both the actors and ourselves…My auditions, pooled together with Jodie’s and Valérie’s, went by really well, with “only” ¼ of all actors failing to show up. I was left with the luxury of having a hard time choosing between three different actors for one of my roles, and 2 actors for the other…we then all had call-backs…more decisions… plus pre-production planning…and here we go…we were all propelled into production week for this first project.
OFF-SHORE REFLEXIONS
Following some advice I received from a second semester student during my first week at BDFI (“don’t spread yourself too thin”), I chose no more than 5 projects outside mine in which to get involved. And I’m happy I didn’t do more…it was plennnnty. Working on 6 shoots each averaging 8hr is probably nothing unusual time-wise for a production week in the industry, but when everything you do is a learning experience, and you’ve got not one single project unfolding, but 6 different ones to work on…it can get a little complicated. I’m thankful to the students who entrusted me with a piece of their project by having me on their set. A lot of the theory came into play and into place. Some of the details covered in class became major issues once on location, and that was good…since the lighting and sound problems we encountered helped me think about how to work with/around them for my own shoot, which came around on Sunday.
All in all, I feel that none of the shoots I was on had to endure any major catastrophes.
But I still have at least one “if only” for every shoot…so, let’s see:
MONDAY
On Nikko’s shoot on Monday, working as a gaffer in a relatively small space, I was satisfied with the comedic tone we were able to give Nikko’s piece by using appropriate light textures and balance. But the shadows our lights casted on the backwall made it hard for the boom operator to get close to the talents with the mic without casting a shadow on our background. Even though I kept an eye on the boom-pole shadow through the first half of the shoot, several takes ended up having a moving shadow in the right corner of the background…I hope none of these takes ends up being the “money shot” Nikko needs once in the edit room.
Lesson 1: if you know something is not right, say it BEFORE the take.
TUESDAY
On Jodie’s shot the next night, I worked as DP. The location –Serendipity Books- provided amazing instantaneous art direction for our set, but for some reason, I just could not get the lighting right. It took almost 2 hours of moving lights around and tweaking before Jodie finally got what she wanted and the whole process probably through her off the creative state of mind she should’ve been in. She still managed to radically change the tone of her script to make it work with her actors (and the location) by asking them to whisper the whole dialog. This simple direction for the delivery of their lines completely transformed the mood of her piece and I can’t wait to see the whole thing in post.
Lesson 2: When it comes to lights, keep it simple at first, tweak afterwards.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday, I was only able to come in at the end of Joel’s shoot at the Berkeley Marina (bar area of the Berkeley Yacht Club). The set was much bigger that the two previous ones, and Jodie (who was DP) really had a chance to move back to the proper distances to shoot the dialog in MCU and CU. What Joel was missing was not space but time. The not-very-cooperative manager of the location became a constant pressure for Joel who still managed to get all (but one?) of the shoots we needed before getting out.
Lesson 3: Time is of the essence.
FRIDAY
Shy’s shoot on Friday took place at the Berkeley Artworks Foundry gallery. It was easy setting the lights for the different angles, being in a large space with room to work with.
And I was glad to have 2nd semester student Charles Steadham around. He gave me some input on the lights, and I think that with Joel’s help (DP), we really got the lighting down.
Lesson 4: Setting ground-rules and expectations is essential
SATURDAY
Marlenée’s shoot was stressful to think about in the pre-production phase, but it was a pleasure to be on once we actually started production. Marlenée’s been preparing and thinking about her set for so long that I was worried we might witness some break-down on set if anything went wrong…instead, we had a really smooth production with great actors, a great producer, a great director, and a great crew. For me (DP), The shoot ran smoothly thanks to Marlenée who had taken me to the location a week earlier + we had gone through the whole shot list, etc…in short, she had done the necessary planning. The only thing I have my doubts about is the last part of her piece where we got ambitious and had an extra 4 camera set-ups moving from inside to outside the house…let’s wait and see how this all cuts once in a FCP sequence…
Lesson 5: Planning planning…
SUNDAY
This was finally my own project’s shoot…conclusion you ask?…I’m not sure what to think. I should log and capture all my footage from this Sunday shoot to get a clearer picture of whether I’m satisfied with it. From a logistical point of view, I think things when well: the location being in the heart of SF, in a small café, I think we handled parking and space management once inside the place well. I also had a great, focused crew to work with. Thank you all! Let’s give it up to my producer Joel, to my gaffer Chuck, my sound (and actor: waitress) Marlenée, to my PA Shy, and to Jodie, my DP. Jodie did an impressive job, especially on the dynamic close-ups I asked of her. Kudos. I just feel I got tangled up into the technical elements of the shoot and lost track of the performance. We had some really light changes over the course of the shoot and spent a lot of time adjusting to these changes as the sun poured into the room around 3pm. My actors being relatively inexperienced, and being new as a film director myself, I struggled at times to bring them in the direction I needed them to go….cutting up the screenplay into short takes ended up confusing them …I had worked with them doing a lot of improvs around the relationship between the two characters…but I should have worked the script directly too…

1. At my shoot, I was concerned that my actor’s were acting too theatrical for the intimacy of the film scene I had envisioned. On a whim, after talking with Karen Dea from the third semester, I asked my actors to rehearse the piece with two rules: 1. only moving the eyes, and 2. whispering. What a change! It was so appropriate for the bookstore setting. So we scrapped the first few takes I had done and filmed in whispers.
2. The lighting on Joel’s shoot was the first time we actually controlled for what the director had envisioned. As Director of Photography on that shoot, I was really proud of our crew. Joel wanted to use harsher light, without much diffusion and I was envisioning a John-Grisham-like scene of testosterone and suspense. We darkened the background, closed up the iris, and really popped the lit sides of the talents’ faces.
3. Nikko saved the dolly shot for last at his shoot. We were all prepared to pack up and go home, having already completed the multiple takes required to get the dialogue down. But, Nikko asked for the dolly shot and we set it up. Franco was the dolly operator, and I was DP and we nailed it on the first take. The footage looks good and I think it will really add to his project.
4. Emmanuel’s shoot had a hard out time because his actor had an appointment to get to. Emmanuel is not the most punctual and can be a bit of a perfectionist, but to his credit, and with the help of Joel, the Producer, he really kept us on time. We finished right on schedule and the actor was grateful to be able to make his appointment.

Some things to try harder on for the next round:

1. No one filmed outdoors for this project. I think we were all intimidated by the added variables associated with shooting outside. Hopefully next round of projects, a few of us take it on and we gain experience with that.
2. There was a declining amount of enthusiasm from some classmates as the shoots went on, particularly from some who already had their own shoots over with. This disappointed me, particularly because I often felt that the classmate who was now directing had previously worked really hard as a grip, for example, on someone else’s shoot and now that director turned grip was slacking off.
3. I think that every director got too distracted from the art of the piece by the technical side of filming the projects. Maybe next time we will each be able to trust our crews better and we will not be so focused on sound problems, troubleshooting video, or whatever comes up at the expense of the story.

This week was crazy and beautiful- I already learned so much! Being on
Colin’s shoot Friday and Saturday was very inspiring- he had great
equipment, thousand lenses, dolly tracks and lots of energy. It was
also interesting how he changed the whole style of the movie during
post production, color correction…
Then on Sunday evening my actor called me and said he has another
shoot before my shoot (which was on the next day) and he doesn’t know
when they will be finished. That was great! However everything was
already organized, I had a two hour rehearsal with the actors and I
really wanted to have him in my film. At the end I risked it but I was
really nervous about it.
Tasha, Jon, Mike and me drove to SF to set up everything. I was really
worried but then on the way to SF my actor called me and said they
were already finished and he could come earlier- that was wonderful!
The shoot went really well- I had great actors and a great crew- they
were so helpful and supportive!
It is amazing how the process of film making combines the most beautiful things:
photography, music, sound, acting, writing, working together with
people…I am really happy that I already found what I want to do in
life:)!

Marlenee Emigh had her very first Berkeley Digital Film Institute shoot this weekend! Every aspect of it was remarkably stress-free. Even though I was the producer of her project, I cannot take the credit. Marlenee spent so much time on her pre-production that it really paid off.  Her thoughtful casting, skillful art direction, and enthusiasm proved to be most beneficial for the shoot day.  I was worried that she was too ambitious for her first project by straying away from the minimal criteria, but it proved to be a futile worry. (For example, at one moment, we had eleven people in the living room waiting for a particular scene. Chaos could have ensued, but the professionalism of BDFI and its students prevented any slight hints of potential catastrophe!) As everyone is the week before her first shoot, Marlenee was anxious, worried, and excited — all at once. It was immensely rewarding to watching her evolve throughout the whole process. I felt like protecting her in my womb, trying to make her feel secure with encouragement. When her face lit up after the last shot, I felt like my emerging filmmaker had just cut her own umbilical cord.

Taking care of your crew is one of the most crucial aspects of any and every film shoot. (First of all, a well fed crew is a happy crew!) Individually, each member of Marlenee’s crew admitted that this was the most stress-free, enjoyable student shoots he or she has been to yet.  They were surprised that things could actually run so smoothly. To be honest, I was shocked but glad simulataneously. We were on schedule at every beat and even finished early! Marlenee knew what she wanted, had confidence in her actors, and never exhibited the slightly indication of overwhelming stress. If you respect your crew, they will take care of you — meaning, they will passionately strive to assist with your creative endeavor. I, personally, would have NO qualms about working with any of these individuals again, in any capacity: Margaux, Emmanuel, Joel, Chuck, and Marlenee of course. I am so inspired by the quality of students admitted to this film school. It really cannot be emphasized enough. We have so much fun together on and off set. There is no doubt that we’re building long lasting friendships!

I can’t wait to observe the post-production process. This will surely be a quality product. “Arthur’s Mirror” is coming soon! Congratulations, Marlenee!!

I woke up this morning, having come off of a very long day, in quite a good mood. All it took was to think about how amazing the footage we got yesterday was. Colin went the extra mile and managed to get a 35mm adapter for the schools Panasonic HVX-200. The soft detail on the images made it look so filmic. The whole shoot made me remember why I want to get into the film industry. We all had so much fun. It was the first time most of us had used a 35mm adapter with Zeiss lenses first hand, we all felt like we had learned something in the process. I have been on some independent film shoots with decent budgets before outside the school and Colin’s shoot seemed the closest to that feeling than any other I had been on here. Colin was treated like a true Director. What ever he asked for, we as the crew, were there to give it to him. To see such great footage come from a student shoot it just gives me hope for my next project to turn out that good. I better start planning my next production.

Ever since I knew I wanted a career in film I began to volunteer my services to different student shoots. I usually worked as PA and only once did I work in preproduction. I had yet to make my own film where I was in charge of everything. I finally got my chance at BDFI and boy was it a lot of work. Because I had so much experience in production I immediately prepped my production crew. I knew who I wanted to be my DP, AC, Producer,Gaffer and so on, but I was in no way prepared to undertake the challenges of preproduction.

Having the luxury of working on production or the very most a single task in preproduction, I had no idea how to put together an entire film that was nearly a concept in my mind. All I knew was I had an enormous tasks list that had to be completed in two weeks and I had no idea where to begin.

First I lost sleep over location. Boy, that wrecked me for a week until I finally gathered the courage to humbly say to my friend’s roommate, “hey…can I sort of borrow your room for like uhhh… a day?” When she said “sure” I slept like a baby. The project was underway again and I had no reason to panic any more. Then came casting.

My sleep patterns once again interrupted as I realized I hadn’t even finished the third draft of my script and I already had to find two actors who could supposedly play a part that was not yet in stone. I spent hours running around the hallways of BDFI, studying the multiple casting websites available to desperate student film makers like me, deciding which site was legit, reliable, and most important of all, free. I finally managed to scrape up enough actors interested in acting in my short film. Sleep once again became a regular habit that is until auditions.

Oy, this really got me as I saw my classmates do a class act in handling the visiting actors. They had handlers, readers, and a whole posse. I was not entirely left on my own as I managed to scrape up enough classmates to give a hint of professionalism to the many talented actors to hand me their resumes. As more and more actors responded to my adds I began to relax, yet I had yet to find the perfect actors. Well, I got use to the highs and lows by this point and didn’t lose too much sleep over it. I took a nap, went to work, held a last minuet audition and found my man. He was the best actor I could act for and that is saying a lot considering I had the character in my mind since I was a young girl. To see the character come to life before my Cannon Camcorder was pretty amazing. I told the guy he got the part two hours after the audition.

So with location, auditions, and casting I managed to survive preproduction. Now I was on familiar territory, production. Except, all that tech stuff other people did them selves was now up to me. And directing? Geese, how am I suppose to undergo the delicate process of critiquing an actor without shutting him/her down entirely? After undergoing the rigorous instruction of my top notch Acting teacher Melissa Hillman, I felt like I was toast. My rehearsal was in three hours and Melissa was correcting me in my confidence, mannerism, direction and even my pronunciation of certain pro speak words like “Escape.” Damn my dyslexia! As a result I took a million notes on the actors objection for every single line in my three minuet short. My producer Kate looked at my notes like I was nuts. But it turned out for the best, my actors nailed the part and did such a good job that the two hour rehearsal I planned ended in 20 mins.

With the actors ready to go, I went out and got a coffee with a classmate who then headed out to another shoot. Before I left to prep my set, I confessed to my dead Patrick I was nervous about tech stuff and generally being in charge of an entire set. After listing my crew, actors and all I had done for the next day he said I was fine. I got in my car and went to the location to designed the set.

I worked until 12AM, went to sleep at 1:30 AM and woke up with an earache at 6:30 AM. The earache must have been from clenching my teeth the past three weeks. I took Excedrin for breakfast and met my crew at BDFI. We loaded the equipment and headed over the Bay Bridge.

The shoot went great. My actors made it so easy, they were really wonderful! Everyone on the set had a good time and the footage came out to look really sharp. It looked like a real pro’s film. Not bad looking for a first film.

I am on such a high right now that I must excuse myself because I am meeting with my crew and two other classmates who finished a shoot for a victory party.

So let the fun begin, for next week I have to present a new concept and start it all over again!

Casting, casting, and more casting. Into the big pool of talented actors in the Bay Area, and we pulled out some great fish. The first set of auditions were for Joel’s characters. I was the handler, greeting actors at the entrance to the building, getting them the script, and helping them get warmed up. The first actor scheduled was a wonderful older actor who exuded all of the respectability and character that I knew Joel was looking for. And what an audition he had! I came into the room after his audition and asked Joel excitedly if he thought he had found his character. Joel, always cautious, admitted that he was very impressed and better, happy by the way his script came to life when read by such professional actors. And yes, this first actor through the door got the part.

On Saturday evening we had our first shoot as a class. Franco’s shoot was in Berkeley and started late at night. We started excited and focused. Franco was unhappy with his script and so wanted to do a lot of improvisation with his actors to attempt to get some interesting rewrites. One hour and some minutes of footage (mostly improv-ed) later, we all were still focused on the shoot, but less excited. Franco wanted to run long takes and at 4AM I was feeling pretty tired and distractable. We decided to can the last shot as it was not planned out properly, everyone was exhausted, and it involved a dolly movement.

On Sunday evening I rehearsed with my actors. It was really fun to work over my script in detail with them and see what underlying motivations and ideas came out through their intonation or movements: subtext!

There are certain people who continue to save me when in dire need: Eric, Jonathan, Jules, Mike, Marcy, and Colin! Thanks you guys!!!!!! You have all helped me more than you could know!
Also, I want to admit that when I am in the editing room, I lose myself completely, and all sense of time…so absorbed am I in the moment..If only I could stretch my own time while editing! The truth is that I do not usually like to be indoors, beneath a roof, much less in a room with no windows; while at BDFI I am so absorbed in all that I am learning, even though there are many windows, most are not necessary. The editing room, and the screening rooms, are the first rooms in which I enjoy the windows that peek into the artistic world of visual and sound creation.
Okay, I am deeply intrigued by sound editing. Mark Berger blew me away with the world of layers upon layers of sound. I am looking forward to 6 more weeks with Mark. Thank you Patrick!
Dan Olmsted is also amazing; such a talented and kind person, with so much knowledge and love of sound, I am grateful to have him teach us on Mondays, and look forward to school every day!
How lucky I am!!!!!!!!!!

Today, we quickly went through the process of making a shot list with Patrick. It’s a way to start seriously thinking about how to “shoot for the edit”. For this first assignment we’re clearly covering our ass regarding coverage by doing every dialogue line from about 5 camera angles… so a detailed shot list isn’t crucial. But I think that for those who feel up to it, we should definitely, on paper or at least mentally, write down a camera angle for each line before the day of the production. It would help prioritize and refine certain shots over others on the day of, and decrease the likelihood of continuity errors and wasted time.

This reminds me of Patrick’s last lecture (on Tuesday 29th), which was not about a specific task (such as the process of making a shot list), but about the art of being a producer/director: I call it “the art of balancing intuition and planning”…..:

Instinct, gut feelings, intuitions, are the heart of the filmmaker. To me, they represent the few moments we’re in tune with the quiet messages our body senses and emits. When we engage in the creative side of filmmaking, or better yet, engage in all of filmmaking with creativity on our side, we come to life. In the end, that’s what it is, directing (any activity) is simply about being alive 24/7…
Thought, plans, plan Bs, agreements, lists, and schedules are the legs of the director. All these forms of planning give us the organizational legs we need so that when things become shaky (and shit will happen, that’s one thing you can be sure of), we have the extra support to remain focused on the creative side of the production. The lights pop a breaker, there is an actor missing, the battery is out, …but you know where that breaker is, you know what the number is and you’ve got a back-up lead and an extra battery, etc, in short, you’ve planned it all.

Now, if you delegate well, the voodoo of a good balance between intuition and planning will give you a situation like this: 1. The catastrophy happens, 2. but decisions were made before it happened to control it, 3. and you’ve got the mind-set to get your crew to respond quick and right, 4. so you remain focused on what matters on the shot: your creative input.

Thursday:

Came home at 11pm for the 3rd time this week. I think this email to a friend encapsulates the mood:

“Hey Donna,
It sounds like it’s unfortunately falling smack in the middle of our production week. And believe me, it’s Production week with a capital P.
If I could, I would have liked to go shoot this video with you, everything brings some kind to experience…
But because of the way BDFI works (every class contributes to the development of one project), we all have a full production to put together every 7 weeks.
And right now, being the end of production time….it’s rush time….Plus, we work on each other’s productions, so everyone works on about 4-5 projects at the same time, with a production-project including: pitch, original script, location scouting, improvs for character development, script-rewrites, call for auditions, script-rewrites, casting auditions, script-rewrites, call-backs, editing assignments, lighting assignments, rehearsals, final drafts, and finally on location shoots…and then post…So, with my work and 5 production projects going at the same time, I can’t make it.

I hope you can find someone to work with you.”

So much has happened the past two weeks. I took a week off of school and went to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. It was my second trip to Sundance and what a difference a year makes!

Because I was with a group of students from my University I had a pass granting me access to the “Film Makers Lounge” and even some private parties. I met professionals from all over the country. I met editors and producers, and I mingled with directors and writers. It was great fun last year, but because of my recent experiences at BDFI, I had a lot more to say.

Film Theory is great and the knowledge I gained from Cal made for interesting conversation, but I mostly talked about film production, what I do and received advice from the big guys.

The pass I earned through Cal, but the confidence I carried was from BDFI.

When I got back I had to throw myself into my short film project.  Right now I am in the middle of auditions and casting.   I have had great fun meeting different performers with a wide range of talents.  Soon it will be done and we can start rehearsal and then the shoot!

Aaahhh. Casting week, what a mixture of tears, joy, and utter absurdity. I began the week, with one day to fill out an audition schedule, that at that point only had three actors auditioning for two roles. To say the least I was a little freaked out, I mean for one of the roles I only had one actor, so if I didn’t get anyone else to come, he was going to be the guy. So I spent Monday, calling a tone of actors to come in for either role, and by the end of the day I had five each for my two roles, it would have been nice to have more but I was relieved. Well, here comes the Auditions themselves, and I’m nervous, I don’t know what I am planning to say, but I had a great team of classmates to back me up. My first audition shows up at 5:50, he walked in and totally blew me away. Suddenly my screenplay came to life, and words and actions that I had only weakly imagined became real, and better than what I thought I had written. over the next 3 and half hours, I felt like in many ways, I became a director, for the first time I was making adjustments to performances, and deciding what worked for the script and what didn’t, and how some one could fill the role. Also at the end of the auditions I knew I had four good actors, two for each role, one near lock, and now its time for callbacks, and my nervousness and trepidation starting all over again, but now I know “it can be done.”

Well, that was a busy week and it is not over yet since my audition
will be on Friday. City College and BDFI is a lot of work- I have to get a
Green Card! I love this school very much and I wished I could stick
around longer to work together with my classmates. Even though the
“History of modern art” class in SF is related to cinematography and
somehow useful, it requires a lot of homework and time, that I don’t
have, especially when we are working on our projects.
It is amazing how Patrick established this great warm atmosphere at
BDFI. Everyone is very kind and helpful, people from the advanced
group work together with us younger people and the other way around.
This week I liked cinematography a lot- we were working together with
our instructor on a scene. It is still hard for me to remember all
these things but I guess that’s what I am here for- to learn and to
become confident in what I am doing.
Well, I am curious how the audition will turn out!
We’ll see!

Yesterday we held auditions. It was so much fun! The actor’s even helped me to develope my script. I just wanted to thank everyone for supporting each other. You all have made this week fun and easy. Joel thank you for making us laugh so hard we cried, and to the rest of the crew who put in tons of effort to help there fellow classmates.
I’m sure everyone wants to thank Peter for all of his help. Yeah, we talked about you behind your back! Your great!! If anyone needs help with there auditions or shoots please let me know! Thanks for being so awesome!

So yesterday was like the mother of all casting calls for those of us in Semester 1. On Wednesday we were able to formulate a pretty solid process on handling the actors, so yesterday we had somewhat of a game plan. Once we took over the BDFI producer bullpen we were locked down for the day. We started at 2:00pm and went until 9:30pm. It felt great to get a chance to direct professional actors. After Joel gave me some pointers I was able to really get the response that I was looking for them. I really enjoyed working with my fellow classmates yesterday. By the end of the night we were all laughs. This casting experience has really quelled my fears of working with semi/pro actors. I know that I’ll be able to do my job on set with confidence. We still have more casting auditions this week and then our first shoot on Saturday!

Wow. What a day. Auditions, after auditions…. After scheduling 10 auditions with the help of Nicholas, my casting coordinator, only 2 actors showed up. Some were sick (kidney stones, yikes!), some forgot, some didn’t call…My assumptions: 1. Very bad luck or 2. Scheduled too far in advance. Joel, who scheduled the bulk of his auditions in the two days leading up to the casting date had almost perfect attendance. So back to the drawing board for me. Although I have a great female lead, even with only one audition for the part.

Joel was resident improver and reader today, alternating between the roles of racist old African American man, peppy 19 year old teenybopper girl, and 35 year old male librarian. He had some really great lines, but after a full day of auditions, his best tries at improv often lead to stifled laughter from the audience. He did such a great job.

Colin, Toni, Jules, Jonathan, Shy and Valerie were all awesome on my shoot Thursday! Joel and Toni, thanks for helping me load the dolly into my car!!!! Thank you all so much! The footage looks great! After a couple restless nights of sleep, I finally managed to drop it all in the timeline, and am very pleased! Even though the audio came through the camera, as opposed to a boom, I really like the effect for this scene. I was listening to the director’s commentary of the movie “Once” last night, and my daughter happened to walk in right when the director was explaining why he chose not to use a boom for a particular scene, to make it feel a little more realistic. My daughter said, “mom, it was meant to be that way on your shoot”… With that in mind, I went back to edit, and am so happy it all worked out as it did. The mic on the camera was so close to the actors, and the room tone was quiet enough for the camera’s mic to make a great recording. “It’s all good” as Colin is known to say…
Thanks guys! I hope you are managing to have a little fun in all this rain. What a beautiful Spring we will have!!! See you Monday.

Monday, January 28, 2008 – Friday, February 1, 2008

The race is on. As a class, we are roller coasting from pre-production to production with increasing momentum. Last week’s calm of ‘oh-the-shoot-is-week’s-away’ was replaced with “WHAT-DO-YOU-MEAN-WE-NEED-TO-CAST-NEXT-WEEK!” The scramble began with a bit of a panic on Monday, but by Friday it seemed that we had begun the process of settling into our new roles as directors, casting coordinators, producers, locations scouts, and artistic directors. Some have emerged and really stepped up to the various responsibility plates. Nicholas, for example, is the god of casting, using his Skype account to field casting calls for at least five of the projects in the works. “Production!” he answers his phone when it rings now.

I’ve revamped the characters in my script. Their names have changed and everything about their original conception has been replaced by more contrived quirkiness, and strangely they are feeling more natural to me because of it. They are now charming, but bookish, awkward and adorable. This makes more sense for my plot. However, it also heightens the challenge of directing my piece. Will the audience buy the bizarre ticks the characters will have? Can I find actors to pull it off? Will I be able to keep my vision forefront amidst all of the craziness that will be my first narrative shoot? It is all a learning experience, I am sure.

I suspect that for the next three weeks my classmates and I will be entirely immersed in the world of these first films. I will hopefully be able to let the other responsibilities in my life to my other work, my documentary video that I am editing…slide off the table for now and focus entirely on this little three-minute gem I hope to pull together. The rainy weather we have been having non-stop in Berkeley will I’m sure make it easier to stay in the mood of my film: dark, dreamy, and deliberate.